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Karnataka’s COVID-19 vaccination second phase to cover about 2 cr people


Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Feb 25, 2021:      The second phase COVID-19 vaccination drive — for those aged above 60 years and those above 45 years with co-morbidities — will cover about 2 crore people in Karnataka. The second phase will begin from March 1 across the country. A meeting in this regard was held on Thursday afternoon, chaired by the Director of the National Health Mission (Karnataka) Dr Arundhati Chandrasekhar IAS. All district authorities will be given final instructions about the second place rollout with a few days.

 

Vaccination


To identify the beneficiaries, the Health Department had already started a door-to-door survey across the state. In Bengaluru city alone, more than 4,000 ASHA workers, along with officials of the health department of the civic body, were deputed to prepare a preliminary target list.

As announced by the Union government on Wednesday, apart from government-run facilities, private centres will also administer the COVID-19 vaccine. It will be free of cost for those taking the vaccine shot from government centres. Those who prefer private facilities, however, will have to pay an amount. According to some reports, the Indian government is likely to cap the price at Rs 300.

The Union government also announced that 10 crore persons over 60 years alone will be targeted in this second phase of vaccination across the country. For this, the beneficiaries have to enrol themselves on the updated versions of Co-WIN or Aarogya Setu apps, which will be made available shortly. Those with no access to technology can also enrol themselves in designated registration centres in hospitals and other notified Common Service Centres as Bangalore One.

This second phase was earlier slated to begin on February 15 in Karnataka, senior citizens, especially those with comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes and kidney diseases, among others. However, the launch was delayed due to a slow start to the vaccine coverage owing to a combination of reasons like vaccine hesitancy and glitches in the Co-WIN portal.

As part of the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, health care workers were given the first jab starting January 16 and later other frontline workers were targeted from February 8. Both sets of beneficiaries are to be given the second dose 28 days after their first dosage.

However, the Karnataka health department stated that as of Wednesday, 75% of coverage has been achieved. The state government said it deleted the duplicate, bogus entries and targeting second doses for only those who have taken the first jab.


Courtesy:The News Minute